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Angry British mob chases Google out of their town
Here in the US we are used to being able to zoom in on street level images of anything in our area. Google started mapping up and down our streets years ago, and it all happened with so little fanfare, that nobody really got the chance to complain.
Things are different in the UK, where residents are beginning to complain quite vocally about the privacy invasion caused by the ability to get up close and personal with just about anything, anywhere.
In the town of Milton Keynes, residents noticed the camera equipped Google car snapping photos of their homes, and decided it wasn't going to happen.
The angry mob stopped just short of bringing their own pitchforks, but managed to block the driver, and then chase him away.
Of course, the whole thing could have been done to prevent anyone in the town showing up on Google doing something stupid.
Filed under: Europe, United Kingdom
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Indigo Apr 23rd 2009 6:28PM
It seems kind of silly that they're making such a big deal out of it. People take pictures with their personal cameras all the time. And it seems practically everyone uploads their photos to Flickr these days. Considering Google even does the courtesy of blurring faces and license plate numbers, I don't know how this is any worse than finding yourself in someone else's Flickr or Facebook picture.
As The Canadian Press put it, “Obviously you need to protect privacy, and you need to work with governments and local authorities to make sure that any concerns they may have, you have to answer to them. And that’s exactly what we’re doing.” (The Canadian Press as quoted at http://www.newsy.com/videos/privacy_in_the_age_of_google/)